Last week we headed up to Layton to visit Rodney's family and to make a decision about what we wanted for our townhome. We bought our townhome in Oct. of 2012 when I was 8 weeks pregnant with Sunny. As we watched it built, we were able to choose our paint and carpet choice. This townhome has a lot of sentimental memories because it was the home we brought Sunny home from the hospital as well as the place she reached her first year milestones.
Renting it out was a tough decision. Rodney wanted to sell it right away, but I felt this could be good investment property and talked him into renting. Selecting who would live there was the toughest decision.We had no problem getting people interested. Within 24 hours of posting an ad for it, we got numerous phone calls. It came down to several people wanting it and us making the decision of who. Because Layton is next to the Hill Air Force Base, there is a huge population of military, especially who always need rentals.
This month, the decision came down to either putting it up for sale or renting it out again. We wanted to meet with our realtor before we made that decision, so after hours of cleaning our townhome top to bottom, we met with the realtor the next day. That night, Rodney and I discussed the pro's and con's of selling. I kept asking him, "What would Trump or other top investors recommend." Our decision came down to, we would continue to rent for as long as needed until we felt comfortable selling. One lesson I have learned with our first year as landlords, is to always go with your gut instinct and pray very hard about who you select as your tenants. I will spare all negative details of situations we were in with our tenants, but I do know one thing, we have learned and we are extra cautious.
Our trip was short and I was extra bummed that I missed some conference, besides listening on radio here and there. On Saturday, when most work was done towards the end of the day, we took Grandma Patti out to Olive Garden for her babysitting services she gave. I must mention that it is never easy to take Sunny out to eat, but Olive Garden is the top place for kids. First, they supply crayons and coloring books, a take home reusable cup with lid/straw and every table comes with a mini laptop with different apps for kids to play games. Sunny was so entertained that we were able to eat and relax. There never ending soup is only 6.00 and have some of the best soups.
After Olive Garden, Rodney went to Priesthood with his brothers. Grandma Patti spoiled us with some pretty good cooking.
Sunny may or may not remember playing at this playground her first 15 months of life. I remember walking her down to the playground and and watching her tiny body play. Now she seems gigantic. How she has grown!
Sunday, we headed over to the townhome one more time to finish up last touches and detailing. We totaled over 18 hours of labor on our townhome. We didn't get on the road until about 3:30 and Sunny would not fall asleep until Cedar. It took us 6 hours to get home due to weather, lots of stops due to bored Sunny drenching her sippy cup all over her, and food fuel. On the way up, Sunny was a dream child. She was so content and slept an hour and was different then I imagined, but I guess I can't expect the same coming home.
I hope everyone felt extra spiritually uplifted during our Prophets and Apostle's talks and felt peace and comfort within. I know I always do, and I know each Apostle is given direct revelation from God as to what to speak of. I always love treating General Conference as a special day, much like Easter and Christmas, because it is. One thing we missed due to traveling, is cinnamon rolls right out of the oven, conference morning. Good thing we are making up for it this Saturday so we can re-watch what me missed.
